Del Piero in Sydney

Alessandro Del Piero will land in Australia this weekend after agreeing to continue his career with Sydney FC.

The Juventus idol has signed a two-year contract with the A-League side after his deal in Turin expired at the end of last season.

“It’s fantastic news that he is arriving on Sunday and we look forward to integrating him into the Sydney FC team,” stated Coach Ian Crook.

“He is coming out a little bit earlier than we had thought which is good and shows he’s a pro and is keen to get started – which we knew was the case.

“As a coaching and medical group we’ll have a chat to him and a good look at him so we can plan through that process.”

Sydney FC Chief Executive Tony Pignata added: “He is eager to get here and start working with the team.

“There has been a lot of excitement surrounding his signature and we can now look forward to him joining the rest of the squad.”

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I thought I'd let you know whats been happening here. Also, let me know if you'd like updates on ADP's situation in OZ. I'm a Sydney FC member so I'll naturally be following him closely and I'm sure you guys might have some questions on how he's going etc.

He landed on Sunday at the airport and he was greeted by loads of fans, mainly Italian Aussies.



His reception has been incredible, he's been front page everyday in the newspapers. Maybe you think that is normal but I can tell you it is not... Here football is second to other sports and something like Barca beating Real Madrid 5-0 would be about 20 pages in on a small column... So the attention he's bringing to football is wonderful.

We've had some other big players join the A-League (Dwight Yorke, Robbie Fowler and more recently Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton returned home), but this is easily the biggest and the nation knows it.

Yesterday he had a press-conference, speaking in fluent English. I think Devi has already posted some of what he said. He's "here to win". He said he hopes he can help the league grow and he made this decision with his heart not his 'feelings'.

He then said he likes the weather a lot better than in Italy , and it will take time to adapt... Just so you know, we play in Summer (30 degrees lol) as opposed to Italian winter (bloody cold), so you've got to be incredibly fit.

He said he wants to live like an Australian and get to know the place. He also spoke about engaging the local Italian community, as well as Greeks etc. Many live here and there has not been a lot of interest on their part in A-League yet.



Finally he trained for the first time today. Here he is training:

Btw, this weekend there will be an open training session for fans and I'm thinking I'll go... Maybe I can meet him?


Hers is some brief info on Sydney FC:

Last season we were essentially pretty sh*t. Way too narrow and slow and lacked goalscorers.

We've sacked the coach and about half the team is new, so it is a new project, but it looks a very good one and not just because of ADP.

I'm not sure what the new coach will play. Last year it was 4-4-2 diamond, but I am expecting with Alex it could be a 4-2-3-1. Our best player left just the week before ADP arrived and I'm pretty sure this means he will be a straight swap and play right in behind our new centre forward. Attacking mid is where I think he'll thrive, his quality on the ball is head and shoulders above other players in the league.

One thing he'll have to watch is the A-League is tough... He won't get as much protection in Europe. Australia is even tougher than English Div 1 and if you dive you get match bans and fines. He'll just have to adapt to a more physical game and I hope no thugs injure him.

Looking forward to seeing him combine with Terry Antonis, who is an 18 year old, and probably the nation's best U21 prospect. He's a little like Xavi. Learning from a player like ADP will be an incredible experience for him.

Great post, and happy to see another Del Piero/Sydney FC fan out there

Keep on posting more information in here if you can it's much appreciated

Kizz everything ! post everything !

I feel guilty, I have never watched an A league game in my life despite watching every Juve game last season, even the 2am kick offs with work the next day.

As soon as this news was announced I went out and got season tickets. I know I'm not the only new face in the stands and I would be very interested to know how their ticket sales go this year because of this signing.

The Del Piero effect is already happening...

Emile Heskey has officially signed for Newcastle Jets and Michael Ballack will arrive in Sydney next week to discuss a contract with Western Sydney...

I'm convinced ADP had everything to do with these 2 big profile players considering Australia as a destination. (yes, lol Heskey but still )

ADP vs Ballack in the first Sydney derby ever would be bloody amazing... And do you know how much tickets are? $10...

ADP

when is his first fixture?

BarcaKizz wrote:The Del Piero effect is already happening...

Emile Heskey has officially signed for Newcastle Jets and Michael Ballack will arrive in Sydney next week to discuss a contract with Western Sydney...

I'm convinced ADP had everything to do with these 2 big profile players considering Australia as a destination. (yes, lol Heskey but still )

ADP vs Ballack in the first Sydney derby ever would be bloody amazing... And do you know how much tickets are? $10...

ADP

WOW barca fans really like ADP a lot,
You are very lucky to go at training and at the matches I cant believe that the tickets are so cheap

The manager has just confirmed that Sydney will play a 4-3-3 formation.

He's stated that Alessandro is still adapting and struggling to get over jet-lag still. Obviously he's not 100% fit. Hence he will probably play him more as a "number nine" to take defensive duties off him until he's ready to play more as a "number ten".

He said the front three would be quite fluid.

I dunno whether he means that ADP will play CF for starters and then drop into midfield or whether he will then shift him to the wing or something because there isn't really a '10' position in the 4-3-3 unless you play with a 'false nine'.

I would have preferred a 4-2-3-1 tbh and maybe thats what we'll end up gettting anyway because if he's dropped into the midfield I don't expect him to do a lot of defensive work.


Fixtures:

With Heskey (Newcastle) and Shinji Ono (West Sydney), the two other big signings for this season.



First game is this weekend, I'll try to provide a link and then a wrap-up afterwards...

Guys!! Apologies... The game time I had must have been outdated... or they just changed it!

I dunno... Weird on the official site it actually still says 7:30, but the game is actually starting at 4:30.

Anyway... lineups are confirmed... and ADP is fit and starting. Here is Sydney's team!

Sydney FC Team News vs WP.

Subs: Abbas, Yau, Ryall, Janjetovic.

Follow the matchday thread here:

https://goallegacy.forumotion.com/t5783p144-matchday-discussion-and-highlights#720769

And I'll try to find some links!

Game starts in just under 45 mins.

Sorry lads.. can't find links.. You might have to look yourself if you're on. Otherwise I'll get some highlights etc after

http://www.coolsport.tv/stream6.html

boring game so far
ADP has missed a shot on goal, some nice touches not much else really happening
Sydney FC well and truly being dominated here

Commenting on game here guys:

https://goallegacy.forumotion.com/t5783p144-matchday-discussion-and-highlights

Will come back and give a wrap up later on ADP.

Btw... you guys should probably know that the first XI has 5/11 new signings. The only 3 players that were starters last year are Emerton, McFlynn and Antonis. The other players that make it up only played a few games.

The captain, McFlynn, is also an absolutely garbage player and I have no idea why he is still in the squad let alone starting. He is horrid.

wtf?? 4 talkshow guys with the same tie???
(at half time)

Apologies to any of you who watched that... ADP was super, his teammates not. I know there are some jokes about this young league's quality, but seriously that game from Sydney was woeful. A very, very poor performance.

However, you have to understand this will take time. New coach, new style, most of the team are new players... Can't expect much yet.

I actually think we can do very well this year, because there are some excellent players here. Problem is selection was a bit dodgy and there are some players that just suck. There are a few changes for me that seem obvious ones and I think if they are made and the team gets some time to gel, we'll be ok.

Oh, our best CB was also out tonight.

On the whole though, Del Piero was excellent. Can hold his head up high... dribbling players, making killer passes, lovely touches. Very promising and he'll have a great season.

We need time though...

Now to go hang myself after watching that sh*t, fml.

I wouldnt say Alex was excellent
I would say he had a good game
A far cry from his previous excellent performances
Hes going to get very very frustrated this year with this level of play
He looks uninterested and unimpressed several times throughout the game

this was particularly poor from sydney though - much more so than the 'its a whole new team, give it some time' party line that is often used

Lynx100 wrote:I wouldnt say Alex was excellent
I would say he had a good game
A far cry from his previous excellent performances
Hes going to get very very frustrated this year with this level of play
He looks uninterested and unimpressed several times throughout the game

this was particularly poor from sydney though - much more so than the 'its a whole new team, give it some time' party line that is often used

Rating his performance depends on how much you expect from him. You would have expected more as he's your Juve idol. I was much more cautious. A-League isn't easy to adapt to and he said he wasn't up to match speed yet. There was a chance he wouldn't start due to fitness.

In the end he made the 90 mins, which was excellent and he was the best player throughout. Showed his class.

A far cry from his excellent performances in the past? Well what were you expecting from his debut? ... Be realistic, he was great. So many positives, he'll have a killer season.

Unhappy? Yes he was and so were his other senior teammates. The movement was poor and passing looked lazy etc at times.

Uninterested? Definitely not... He fought hard this game and kept going. Weird that you'd even say such a thing. If he was uninterested in his first game we should never have signed him. He seems very interested to me and is loving his new challenge. He wanted to win though... and his team played rubbish. So he knows they must improve.

Yes they were particularly poor. I said that pretty damn blatantly, but its clear there's only up from here. The team will improve. I still think we will be one of the best teams in the league... I can just see it happening.

I know it sounds naive and like a football manager fanatic... but its not really that hard to solve a lot of the problems. The rubbish players can be replaced. A few players came off the bench who should have started and maybe the second best player was injured.

Personally I'd make four changes to the lineup. Then from there... I think time and gelling. Soon enough we'll do well.

I suppose its true that his rating would depend on how much you expect from him. but having watched him since his Juve debut in 91 right until his last game last season, I feel im in a perfect position to comment on his ability, performance, skill and attitude.

Lets not forget hes coming close to 40 now so you cant quite expect the same level from him but even despite that, I thought he looked like a piece of gold in a bag of coal.

Making 90mins is a big thing for Alex but then again, he wasnt particularly active a lot of the time as most of the game was spend in the Sydney half - so thats not really a tribute to his match fitness though however, his fitness is only going to get better as the season wears on so its a very good sign. Dont forget he hasnt played 5 consecutive 90min matches since roughly 2007 (i think that stat is right but dont quote me on that).

Again, yes it was a fary cry from his previous performances - and im not talking his magic from back in the day - even compared to his performances from last season.

There was an obvious gulf in class (from Juve to Sydney) as expected and he just did not have the confidence to play like his usual self. Sure his first touch was great but that was always great and always will be - you dont often lose that sort of thing.

The uninteresting and unhappy issue stems from that gulf of class - he clearly did not have the confidence in his team mates to make the runs, get into positions and creat space that ADP needs in order to show his true class. Towards the end of the first half - i rememeber seeing when the camera glanced at him, and he had the same frustrated expression on his face as he ALWAYS does when things just werent sticking at Juve.

Yup, he's definitely interested in the new challenge of a new league, great money contract, new country, new life experience etc etc - but this last game - sorry, he looked very dejected as the game wore on.

As for Sydney FC, yes, the team will improve becaues they cant really get a lot worse - I think it is very naive to thin they will be A-league winning contenders but as a Sydney supporter, I wouldnt expect the fans thinking any other way - so good on you.

PS: the Sydney captain (dont know his name) is plain useless and doesnt even belong on the bench. (No offence)

Lynx100 wrote:

PS: the Sydney captain (dont know his name) is plain useless and doesnt even belong on the bench. (No offence)

I'm glad you noticed this too He is garbage.

And trust me... we'll improve and make the finals.

As for players making the right runs for ADP. They definitely didn't but that will come. These guys have never played with someone of the class and intelligence of him. He sees things others don't. They will slowly learn from him what he wants. This happened last time we signed a big player in Dwight Yorke. At first nobody knew wtf they were doing. Then we ended up winning the Grand Final.

Sydney lost 2-3 today to Newcastle.

ADP scored his first goal. A great freekick.



He was given man of the match in the game despite the loss. I don't think he was best on ground necessarily, but he was excellent again.

Sydney sucked again first half. Defence is a mess. Still missing the best defender at the club and he should be back soon. Excellent player and will make a huge difference.

The captain was up to his normal abysmal passing and defending and was subbed early to cheers lol.

The coach just doesnt seem to realise you are meant to pick the best 11 players...

-----

Anyway... on to good news:

The last half an hour the team was much improved and looked good. ADP very involved and Emerton, who is the other marquee player, was moved to the wing and completely changed the game. Whereas he is poor at RB.

Almost won the game with a tight finish.

Finally, the club has signed Jason Culina. Probably the best passer Australia has produced in my lifetime. He's coming back from injury but he should slot into midfield and he's quality so should change our game. Very exciting. Culina formerly played for PSV Eindhoven.